Tennis|Azarenka Advances to Round of 16; Third-Ranked Muguruza Is Ousted

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Azarenka Advances to Round of 16; Third-Ranked Muguruza Is Ousted

By The Associated Press

Jan. 22, 2016

The two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka walked into Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne knowing that the No. 2- and No. 3-ranked players were already out of the tournament and that the draw appeared to be breaking in her favor.

She blinked at first, when the Japanese qualifier Naomi Osaka broke her at love in the first game of their third-round match, but she recovered quickly and responded with a 6-1, 6-1 win in 56 minutes.

The 16th-ranked Azarenka, back in form after two injury-interrupted seasons, has dropped just five games in three matches at Melbourne Park after warming up with a title at the Brisbane International.

Azarenka had 24 winners to only four for Osaka, who was making her Grand Slam main draw debut.

“She’s a little unpredictable, and she surprised me with her game,” Azarenka said.

She will next play 48th-ranked Barbora Strycova, who upset third-ranked Garbiñe Muguruza, 6-3, 6-2, in the previous match on center court.

In addition to Azarenka, there were two other Australian Open champions remaining in the women’s draw: The six-time winner Serena Williams and the 2008 winner Maria Sharapova were in the other half and could meet in the quarterfinals.

Muguruza’s rapid rise to the No. 3 ranking sharpened the focus on her run in Australia, attention which only increased after second-ranked Simona Halep and No. 10 Venus Williams, a seven-time major winner, lost in the first round.

It did not help Muguruza, though, with her loss to Strycova extending a disappointing follow-up in majors since a breakthrough run to last year’s Wimbledon final. She lost in the second round at the United States Open, and her third-round exit here was worse than her two previous trips to Melbourne Park, where she had reached the fourth round.

“Clearly not my best, for sure,” Muguruza said. “I think today is a very bad day, you know, at the office. I just couldn’t find the court, my shots. Yeah. Didn’t really find my game.”

Muguruza misfired frequently on her groundstrokes, finishing with 32 unforced errors, and appeared to be lethargic at stages of the match. Her loss left No. 6 Angelique Kerber as the highest-ranked player in the bottom half of the women’s draw.

Strycova has only been past the third round once before in 38 Grand Slams, and that was when she reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in 2014. Knowing her next rival was likely to be Azarenka, Strycova decided to stay in the moment.

“I will enjoy myself first because I beat No. 3 in the world,” she said.

Johanna Konta, who beat Venus Williams, became the first British woman to reach the fourth round at the Australian Open since Jo Durie in 1987, giving the British and the Australians something to celebrate.

Konta, who was born in Sydney and became a British citizen in 2012, beat Denisa Allertova, 6-2, 6-2, and will next play the 24th-ranked Ekaterina Makarova, a semifinalist here last year, who forged a 6-3, 6-2 win over 12th ranked Karolina Pliskova.

In the men’s bracket, an emotional Milos Raonic dedicated his 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 third-round win over the Serbian Viktor Troicki to the victims of a high school shooting in his Canadian homeland.

Raonic used his on-court interview to express support for the families and friends of four people killed at a high school in the remote Saskatchewan community of La Loche on Friday.

It was Canada’s worst such shooting in a quarter of a century.

“It was a difficult day at home,” said Raonic, who was close to tears.

He added: “Today’s victory was for that community and a quick recovery. All of Canada, and I’m sure the world, is behind you.”

Several other people were injured in the incident, the Canadian police said, and a suspect was taken into custody.

A version of this article appears in print on , Section D, Page 3 of the New York edition with the headline: Azarenka Advances to Round of 16; Third-Ranked Muguruza Is Ousted. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe